The present invention relates to a portable sanding and surface treatment device. More particularly, the present invention surface treatment device is battery operated and includes an interchangeable cylindrical abrasive surface treatment or polishing section that surrounds a cylindrical electrical motor.
The present invention is a compact, battery operated surface treatment apparatus. One primary objective of this invention is to provide a convenient device for cleaning grease, dirt and grime from the grate of an ordinary backyard barbeque grill. When the weather is nice, people often enjoy relaxing in the outdoors, and grilling meat or vegetables on their outdoor barbeque grill. Grease from the food has a tendency to accumulate on the grate of the grill. Typical prior art devices include wire brushes to manually remove the accumulated grease and grime. This method is difficult, time consuming and requires substantial physical effort (elbow grease to remove the barbeque grease.) It would be an advantage to provide a device which is a compact, motor driven apparatus, that is suitably configured to operate and clean within the confined space that is presented by the typical backyard barbeque grill.
There are several prior art surface treatment devices, none of which include the novel and non-obvious features of the invention presented herein. These prior art device include the following listed United States Patent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,197 entitled Apparatus for Sanding and Buffing with a rotating Roller issued to Evensen on Oct. 22, 1996. U.S. Pat. No. 3,793,782 entitled Power Driven Surface Finishing Device issued to Bowling on Feb. 26, 1974. U.S. Pat. No. 2,554,763 entitled Portable Sander Tool issued to Wickman on Jul. 14, 1950. U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,472 entitled Sanding Element and Apparatus issued to Lyng on Apr. 12, 1994. U.S. Pat. No. 5,947,806 entitled Power Sander issued to Rhoads on Sep. 7, 1999. U.S. Pat. No. 3,790,980 entitled Motor Driven Brush issued to Sylvie on Feb. 12, 1974. U.S. Pat. No. 4,780,992 entitled Apparatus for Cleaning Pool Tile issued to McKervey on Nov. 1, 1988.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to present a convenient device for use on a common backyard barbeque grill which is utilized to clean dirt, grease, food remains and grime from the grill grate.
Another objective of the present device is to provide a device that includes a readily interchangeable abrasive member. Thus, the present invention is readily adaptable to use in a wide variety of surface treatment applications. For example, through the appropriate choice of surface treatment member, the present invention is well suited for other cleaning and sanding applications.
It is further an objective of the present invention to provide a device that is powered by a rechargeable battery for convenient transportation and ease of use in a multitude of indoor and outdoor locations.
It is further an objective of the present invention to provide a device that is compact in size, and whose cleaning member is gearlessly situated in a direction that is perpendicular to its handle, thus is readily adaptable for use in the restricted area presented by the typical backyard barbeque grill.
It is further an objective of the present invention to provide a device that is mechanically simple and thus can be readily manufactured.
Other objectives, advantages and novel features, and further scope of applicability of the present invention will be set forth in the detailed description to follow, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
The present invention is a portable, battery operated sanding or surface treatment device which is particularly well adapted for use on a backyard barbeque grill. A combination handle/battery compartment extends downward from the horizontal element of an L-shaped bracket. An electric motor which is contained inside a motor casing is provided. The motor casing includes a portion of larger diameter and a portion of smaller diameter. Extending from the end of the motor casing of larger diameter is a rotating drive shaft. Attached to the drive shaft is a cylinder drive of predetermined span. An annular bearing assembly is provided whose external diameter is substantially similar to the predetermined span of the cylinder drive and whose internal diameter is slightly larger than the dimension of the smaller portion of the motor casing. The bearing assembly surrounds the smaller portion of the motor casing and the motor casing is screwed to the vertical portion of the L-shaped bracket. A cylindrical surface treatment member is chosen and positioned over and abuts the cylinder drive and bearing assembly. An appropriate battery is inserted into the handle/battery compartment and is electrically wired to the motor, It will be appreciated that the surface member is interchangeable and may be chosen in accordance with the task It will be further appreciated that the device is compact and that the cylindrical abrasive member is oriented perpendicularly to its handle without the use of gears to change the direction of rotation.